Items

• 
  May 5th, 2020

  Covid: Should We Re-open? A poll

  Is it too soon to reopen all businesses on Staten Island? I wanted to reopen, but I was nervous. My parents are old and this kind of poll result really frustrated me.
• 
  2020-06-12

  Do you Think there Will be a Second Wave of Covid-19 on Staten Island

  Do you think there will be a second wave of Covid-19 on Staten Island?
• 
  April 8, 2020

  Is this the new normal or will society return to the way it used to be?

  CSI Public History Coronavirus Chronicle created a poll asking "Is this the new normal or will society return to the way it used to be?" Four people responded. Three said yes and one said there will be a new normal.
• 
  2021-03-01

  Skeptic's flawed analysis of pandemics over a century using data that ignores population growth and globalization.

  The attached image was used as evidence in an article for pandemic skeptics to make a "realistic risk assessment" of their danger during the COVID-19 pandemic in an article originally published in March 2021. The image utilizes only the mortality rate of England and Wales over the last century to visually "show" that COVID-19 is just a "blip" on the map. They are seemingly hinting through an image that this pandemic is fake news compared to world wars or influenza, using data to propagandize skepticism. What is misleading about this data is that they are using numbers of today against nearly one hundred years ago and are not contextualizing the numbers at all. At first glance one can see the overall mortality rate is going down. Of course, this is due to improved science, sanitization, water, and medicine over this time period. We must not also forget that this rate has gone down because the number of people in England and Wales, as in all life on our Earth, has increased. Like all math problems, the larger the denominator the small the rate. For example, if 100 people died out of a population of 1,000, the mortality rate is 10% (100/1000x100). But, if 100 people died in a population of 10,000, the mortality rate is only 1 percent (100/10000x100). Trying to compare numbers in a situation where the world population is much different and globalized, is not an equal comparison. I believe this is misleading persuasive propaganda that skeptics used to make COVID look like not a big deal. However, the risk factors have much more to do with your age, location, health history, interaction with other people, and how your surrounding areas respond to a pandemic, none of which is contextualized in this vague graph.
• 
  2022-05-10

  Pandemic Skeptics

  The attached screenshot is from the pandemic skeptic website https://evidencenotfear.com/. In this image, the site states a fact that adults are more likely to be killed in a car accident than from contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This fact is true, unless you are an adult over the age of 49. Sites like this twist and spin facts to produce a narrative that sounds convincing enough to make you not have to look the information up. Oh and if you click the hyperlink "car accident" in that fact, it just takes you to more articles on their site that talk about automotive accidents on their site. This site is trying to use "science" and "medical" facts to push the narrative that COVID fears are unreasonable and scare tactics. My reaction when I see any article full of hyperlinks is to check them out as well as to fact check the main ideas separately. Sites like this assume that people will not take the time to look information up and take it at face value.
• 
  2022-03-15

  Passionate and (mostly) respectful recent debate in the waning pandemic

  While the all-encompassing strength of the COVID-19 Pandemic is waning, it still persists and lingers. This is a critical time where countries can either dreamily and abruptly attempt to return to idealized pre-pandemic existence or continue to return to their visions of normalcy through steps found in scientific methodology. Debates that focused on safety, health, and personal freedoms (especially about masks and vaccines) were constantly in the news the last two years, with some deteriorating into disheartening and embarrassing public displays. Surely, these debates will continue indefinitely, and all perspectives will be important to history. While browsing this archive, many of the stories are of those who subscribe to the reality of the pandemic, who trust and listen to science, and who have highlighted the way their lives have changed during the pandemic. I am from Arizona, born and raised. I often find myself to be the lone liberal or democrat, particularly at work, in a state formerly known as a red state, now perhaps purple. While Arizona is well represented in this archive regarding life during a pandemic, it has many people living in it who dispute the pandemic's origin, virulence, and the government's attempt to control personal freedoms, as much as I personally disagree. The attached YouTube video shows a meeting of the Kyrene School District Governing Board from January 25th, 2022. The relevant background is that before the 2021 Winter Holiday break this district emailed parents that masks would no longer be mandatory after the new year. By the end of the break, Omicron infections had increased, and the district regressed back to mandatory masks after the holidays. Please watch, specifically from minutes 20:35 through 38:28. To me, a person who reads a diverse group of news sites daily, this clip has brought me hope. Of all the ugly comments I have read on far right or left news sites, debate like the one in this video is instead mostly constructive, passionate, and respectful. I may not agree with everything discussed in this sample, but I respect people's right to debate their beliefs. I believe studying other perspectives is useful for future generations. Historians one hundred years from now may wonder why certain people thought masks were useless in schools. Hopefully, between this J.O.T.P.Y. archive and the articles that exist on the internet, a thoughtful sample of diverse perspectives can be researched. Additionally, I hope this video adds to material in this archive that demonstrates the anti-mask perspective to historians who could research and educate future generations on state and federal authority during health crises to hopefully prevent conflicts as we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic. This video is owned and uploaded by the Kyrene School District to YouTube.
• 
  2020-03-20

  The Perspective of a Drunk Teenager on COVID-19: Snapchat Memory

  This was a Snapchat Memory I found from the end of the 1st week of the initial Covid lockdown. I was bored, so I got drunk in my closet by myself to have a good time. I found this video to be insightful to my perspective of how I felt about Covid at the time.
• 
  2021-12-03

  Sabrina Sakata and Emily Fink Oral History, 2021/12/03

  how past pandemics relate to the current COVID-19 pandemic
• 
  2021-11-13

  Anti-Vaxxers in the Family

  I have a minimum of 2 resolute anti-vaxxers in my extended family. We try to avoid conflict but sometimes their ignorance is just too much for me to bear and I feel like I have to set the record straight. Here's a summary of what's going on in these screenshots from a FB post. 1. Great aunt posts a meme using the experience of the Polio vaccine to promote the COVID vaccine. (meme included) 2. Anti-vax aunt (orange) posts snarkily that in the case of the polio vaccine, it was only rolled out after 60 years of research. 3. I step in (as a historian of public health) and comment that she's mistaken, the polio vaccine went from lab to roll out in 25 years. While mRNA (on which the COVID vax is based) was first discovered in a lab 35 years ago so it stands to reason that the amount of time between lab and roll out is similar. 4. Meanwhile... anti-vax second cousin (purple- daughter of great aunt who made the original post and also resolutely anti-vax) tags anti-vax aunt (orange) and says "amen." as in... she lends her support 5. Anti-vax aunt (orange) responds to my initial rebuff in #3 and says "wrong. it took 35 years to discover it was a virus" (as if that, added to the 25 years of development constitutes 60 years of "research" 6. I step back in and repeat... polio vaccine research began in 1930, and it rolled out in the US in 1954. Surely she doesn't want to go back to the "good old days" when it took 30 years to discover whether something was a virus, really...?? 7. I was wrong. Anti-vax aunt (orangs) DOES want that. She says, "Yes, really" 8. pro-vax cousin (light blue-an oncology NP) comments "Wow. That's sad to think about" 9. Anti-vax aunt (orange): ? 10. pro-vax cousin (light blue): is we were not able to identify viruses like we can today. It's sad to think about all of the people that would die unnecessarily. This exchange went on but I just don't have it in me to continue with screenshots. Great aunt (original poster) chimes in and says she doesn't care what people's beliefs are but both of her daughters (one of them the anti-vaxxer in purple) families have COVID right now and she's in her 70s and was exposed to both and never caught it. She firmly believes it's because the vaccine works. Anti-vax aunt claimed she "didn't post a belief, she posted a fact" I said "no. you posted an incorrect fact that was skewed to make it look like the polio vaccine underwent 35 more years of research than it actually did and I corrected you." It's amazing to me that technology that has been in development for 35 years (mRNA) is seen with such suspicion because the virus it's being used with COVID-19 is new. So the assumption is that the vaccine is "untested" even though the technology behind it has a robust research history. I'm even more amazed by people who are anti-covid vaccine even though they had their full slew of childhood vaccines on schedule. I have two very close family members who refused to get vaccinated (different family members than the two distant family featured above) and they had all of their childhood vaccines. One of them even told me she fully expected that everyone who was vaccinated with the COVID vaccine will die in a few years or even "sprout dicks" for all she knows.... yes... It's imperative that we, as a society, figure out how to address misinformation and disinformation. Certainly, facts/statistics/"Research" are open to interpretation to a degree but much anti-vax info out there is politically motivated. It's not coming from scientists who spend their whole lives studying this stuff.... it's coming from PACs and anti-establishment groups who have beef with the US government and/or "Big Pharma" or Western medicine.
• 
  2021-09-10

  The debate on the nature of coronavirus

  This is a sticker I saw on the street that says 'imagine having a virus so deadly you have to be tested to even know if you have it.' It appears as though someone has attempted to peel it off. I think this image reflects rather well the differing opinions and theories about the origins and seriousness of the virus. That someone has attempted to remove it signals the rather heated and emotional nature of the debate, as those who question what we have been told about the virus are regularly labeled 'conspiracy theorists.' In my view, that there is differing opinions on the virus, no matter how controversial, is part of the free speech that makes this country so great, and that we can debate these issues somewhat freely should not be taken for granted.
• 
  2021-06-05

  Someone else on the internet told me different!

  This is what I imagine people doing when they turn off NPR’s latest COVID vaccines update before heading to the feed store to buy Ivermectin for COVID treatment.
• 
  2021-09-14

  The Start to the School Year is Unlike Any Other

  I wrote an opinion piece for Idaho Education News last week after the latest school board meeting in Nampa, Idaho. Since March of 2020 educators have worked tirelessly to ensure that our students continue to receive a quality education. Initially, educators were seen as 'heroes' of the pandemic. However, over the last 9 months, the rhetoric surrounding schools and teachers has turned nasty. Yet, teachers continue to show up every single day and offer learning experiences to all children. At last week's board meeting, the discussion focused primarily on a mask mandate for our district as hospitals in our state began rationing care given the soaring number of Covid-19 cases. There was an even split between the trustees who were in favor of masking and the trustees who were against masking. This split did not come as a shock to me. However, the line of one trustee hit me in my gut, "I guess I go back to the mission statement. I'm here for the kids, so I'm not going to worry about the adults." The mission and vision statement the trustee is referencing states that teachers offer "exceptional learning experiences" for every child. Given the largely unvaccinated population of our community, the high numbers of teachers out sick, and the alarming number of students out sick as mask mandate seemed like a simple request. However, the board did not vote in favor of helping teachers ensure we are able to provide 'exceptional learning experiences.' Are masks the only answer? Not necessarily. Last year, students attended school 4 days per week while the 5th day was reserved for students to connect with students who were in quarantine/sick and unable to attend school. This year, all of those requirements are gone. That being said, students and teachers attend school 5 days per week and there is no time allotted for teachers to connect with students who are quarantined or sick. Given the latest numbers, about 25% of our entire district is out sick. That is 25% of students who do not have access to their teachers. The article was published on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, and Idaho Ed News shared it on their Facebook page as well. Shortly after 7 pm MST the post has over 160 comments (mostly in favor of teachers), 250 reactions, and over 50 shares. In addition, I have received numerous private messages and emails from other teachers who thank me for giving them a voice during this 'unprecedented' time. While I am still a fairly new teacher with only 3 years of experience, there are veteran teachers who are being pushed to the brink. Many would like to think this is an Idaho problem but the reality is that teachers across the country are feeling unsupported and unappreciated by the communities they serve. I am fearful this will be my last year teaching - I LOVE my job. I remain hopeful that this year turns out to be something amazing.
• 2020-03-18

  My Personal Pandemic Experience

  In March, 2020, a global pandemic started. Before that, jokes were made. "Coronavirus is going to take out the whole world". When the month of March began, most people were confused or very strongly opinionated about what was going to happen. It was the news of all news. Rumors got worse and worse and it was said that you could get the virus through your eyeballs, nose, and mouth. People got scared of getting sick so the world completely changed. Masks started arising with the thought that they'd slow the spread. Shortly after, however, masks became very political. In the world of demanding masks, canceling school, major political conflict and complete chaos I felt worried, annoyed, angered, and most of all disappointed in and for what the world became.
• 
  2021-03-24

  Mask Mandate

  My personal feelings expressed through a meme about how the U.S. Government must have felt about a national mask mandate.
• 2020-02-20

  The Covid Virus

  I learned that the cause of the covid virus was that someone ate a bat in China. I was confused because I was like why would someone want to eat a bat. My opinions haven't changed because I'm still confused on why someone would want to eat a bat. Once that person ate the bat and they spread their germs with other people than the whole world got it. It is crazy how one person got it and now the whole world has it.
• 
  2021-01-11

  Opinion about what caused the virus (Covid-19)

  From my opinion, I think corona-virus started as a pathogen. I think this pathogen started as someone ate an animal that has never tried before and they didn’t know if it carried a disease or any cells that if match with humans, can be critical. I also think that about this Covid-19, there’re a lot of theories or believes that can encourage somebody to think in these origins.
• 2021-01-11

  COVID is all part of a plan

  COVID was not a mistake or an accident. It didn’t just come here like other viruses did it was on purpose. The far left, Germany, Italy, and other countries used this virus to shut down people, shut down opinions and anyone who thought otherwise. Their main goal was to get President Trump and company out of the White House. They rigged the election, rigged the senate races and put in a fony President Joe Biden. Joe Biden isn’t the problem it is his Vice President Kamala Harris, she will bring socialism into this free country. You see, mail in ballot votes are safer cause of COVID, we can’t voice opinions cause of COVID, we can’t live cause of COVID. It’s all fit into a plan to turn this country into China, the left have used COVID to get rid all that we have loved about this country.
• 2020-01-11

  cover origin

  The first case I heard about this was back 2 years a go in December. I heard lots of theories the first one I remember hearing is that someone ate a bat and contracted this virus. I didn't think much of it at first but after time I realized how serious it is and how much it affects everyone in the world. My opinions on the virus have defiantly changed over time though, but I still manage to keep the same precautions and make sure to follow the instructed rules to keep everyone safe.
• 2020-03-12

  Covid Beginnings

  When this pandemic first started there were many different theories of how COVID-19 started. The one I knew about was this virus came from a bat in China. Someone ate it and got contaminated. To me, it sounded ridiculous because it didn't make sense to me that a bat started this whole entire pandemic. Since then, my opinion has changed. I believe that in China scientists were looking at the Covid 19 in a lab. I think it escaped and that's how it got out to the whole world.
• 2021-01-11

  Origin of Covid-19

  When I first learned about the virus, I was told that it came from bats. And the first people that had contracted covid-19 had eaten bats that were sold at a market. I thought it was sad because people were dying from it. I also never thought it would be more than a couple of people that ate some bats and got the virus, I never thought it would become a world wide pandemic. I still believe that there is a virus and that masks effectively work. I know what you can do to prevent you from getting it. When I was first told about the virus, I was told that the flu was worse, in some cases that is true, but because there was no vaccine yet, and it can have also a larger long-term effect on some people. Also, I think that if our president put the entire country in a 4-week mandatory lock down where you were only allowed to leave your house for groceries, we would not be in this massive outbreak now. Also if all those anti-maskers just put a mask on and stopped saying that they have medical conditions that prevent them from wearing a mask, it could also be a lot better. Yes, there are certain medical conditions that prevent you from wearing a mask like a face burn, but if so just get your groceries delivered and stay home. Also if people stopped spreading lies that covid-19 is just a hoax, maybe some people would take it seriously and we would be in a much better situation.
• 2021-01-11

  Origins of COVID-19

  January of 2020 is when I started learning about COVID-19 and its origins. I first heard about the Coronavirus from my parents and news channels which stated there is a new virus around foreign countries that is spreading quickly and cannot be identified with any existing sicknesses. Rumors became of a bat that was carrying the virus and either had been consumed by humans or had transmitted the virus to man. The virus originated in Wuhan, China, but was also existing in Europe and the rest of Asia, at the time. I personally had no concern or worries with it when first hearing this news early on, but it was quite interesting hearing updates about it. My reasoning for this was it had not yet reached America or anywhere near the country. The thought of having to shut down stores, schools, restaurants, and cities did not even cross my mind because of the insanity that sounded of. Today, it seems completely normal hearing and thinking about quarantined, isolated societies because of how we've been living the past year. Speaking of today, I currently know a lot more about COVID. The symptoms, testing, origins, and biology of it are more clear now, a year after its discovery. I feel comfortable with the idea of the Coronavirus and am not scared of it. That opinion hasn't changed since the start of quarantine and COVID. There is still plenty more to learn about the Coronavirus, especially now that vaccines are out, but my adequate understanding of it and its origins is acceptable.
• 
  2020-12-08

  Critique of Canada's COVID response

  The author of this tweet provides a critique of the government's response to COVID-19.
• 
  2020-10-07

  Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) saved Canada, Kevin Kent

  Kevin Kent expresses his opinion that CERB saved Canada, rather than ruined it, as many Conservative commentators posited.
• 
  2020-05-04

  Critique of Andrew Scheer, former Canadian Conservative Party leader

  Twitter user Bill Sullivan expresses his opinion that Scheer wanted to amplify the sufferings of Canadians during the pandemic.
• 
  2020-11-16

  Working Canadians should not pay for the pandemic, Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) of Canada

  This tweet from NDP leader Jagmeet Singh highlights his belief that working Canadians should not pay for the pandemic. Singh and the NDP tried to use this rhetoric to implement a wealth tax on Canadians making more than 20 mil. annually.
• 
  2020-11-16

  "The Maclean’s Conservative Resistance with their respective COVID charts"

  This tweet makes fun of Maclean's magazine's "Conservative Resistance" by overlaying the pictures of these respective Canadian conservative leaders with their COVID charts.
• 
  2020-12-12

  Corbella: Kenney's COVID hesitancy driven by his fear of splintering the right

  " . . . Kenney has to find a way to keep the conservatives united — he needs to keep the 'U' in the UCP while also not losing all of his credibility as a leader by allowing so many COVID cases." Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute.
• 
  2020

  Was it necessary to call a provincial election in New Brunswick amidst a pandemic?

  This meme makes fun of New Brunswick's provincial leadership for calling an election during the pandemic, which is not necessarily the wisest choice.
• 
  10/13/2020

  Patrick Murphy Oral History, 2020/10/13

  Patrick Murphy, a delivery driver for a large online retail company, provides his thoughts and opinions on the Covid 19 Pandemic. Being a deliver driver he gives insight into how his job and the world he moves through has changed. Being twenty one years old Patrick discusses how the internet and social media has shaped his experience during the pandemic.
• 
  2020-09-15

  Melbourne is not a city in revolt

  This was towards the end of the Stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne. Sky news, in particular, were making out that all of Melbourne was opposed to this infringement on our human rights. This article reminded me that, actually, most of Melbourne was feeling the same way as me - it sucks, but it's the right thing to do.
• 
  2020-04-17

  Point Counterpoint Editorial from Cat and Dog Regarding Humans Staying Home All the Time

  Along with the humans, the pets are affected by us hanging out at home 24/7. Here is a humorous take on how a cat and a dog feel about us around all the time.
• 
  2020-06-04

  Children and Covid-19

  Many falsely believe that the Corona virus will not harm children. However, it it becoming clearer that while not statistically likely, Covid-19 can be deadly to children.
• 2020-05-21

  How i think about Stay Home Law

  in my opinion, the first method in the face of the outbreak is the most effective, the most secure for people's lives. First of all, pneumonia with the new coronavirus infection can be transmitted through respiratory droplets and exposure. Spread by respiratory droplets, such as patient sneezing, coughing, talking droplets, exhaling gas close contact, can lead to the continuous spread of the disease, or the patient sneezing, coughing, talking droplets mixed in the air, the formation of aerosols, inhaled by others can also lead to infection; Therefore, only the implementation of home order, everyone wearing a mask, increase the intensity of testing, is the most effective approach. Many people feel that the home order violates human rights. I think it is selfish of those who pursue so-called freedom in this outbreak, because at a time when countless health care workers are saving lives on the front lines of the epidemic, and these so-called freedoms are demonstrating in the streets, not only for themselves, but for the health of others. So I think Method One is not only not a violation of human rights, but rather a responsibility to the lives of the inhabitants. And the implementation of the home order is not only an inhuman decree, but every person who abides by the home order is contributing to society.
• 2020-05-25

  How Chinese government fight with Covid-19

  when the first discovery of the new coronavirus, immediately published, and open and transparent data, to promote the new coronavirus hazards and protection measures. Since the new coronavirus is spread by droplets produced when people speak again , we should minimize human contact . First of all, we must close the country to reduce external communication. Secondly, serious areas should be closed cities, the implementation of home orders throughout the country. The importance of universal wear masks and disinfection of clothes out of the home. Even in less serious places, strict lying in and out of the population should be strictly restricted, and the public began to be tested in large quantities for nucleic acids. Close all public places, prohibit public gatherings, and open only supermarkets. A substantial increase in the production of medical equipment. For severe areas, build hospitals for outbreaks. In the highway, railway station, airport, etc. , all have to set up detection points to carry out temperature measurements on people. Limit the number of people entering and leaving the community , and check the temperature of all people in and out of the area . Elevators in the district are disinfected three times a day, and the property needs to be doored to the owner twice a day to measure the temperature. Promote an app that we call a health code here and require all citizens to use it. Its main function is to be able to grasp the human movement trajectory, such as entering shopping malls and supermarkets by bus subway to protect the train will require to sweep this health code. The health app is set to three models the first of three is that green indicates that it was not exposed to neo-coronavirus contamination before the data update date, while yellow indicates that it may have been exposed to neo-coronary virus contamination within 14 days, needs to contact the local health service center, try not to go out to be isolated at home, red indicates that within 14 days with new coronary patients have been in close contact with the CDC ice and medical isolation. The outbreak ended and the economy began to recover, but residents were asked to wear masks because the outbreak could return at any time. Help countries that have helped China fight the outbreak, send experienced medical teams and donate medical supplies. For other countries in need, trafficking in medical supplies.
• 
  2020-04-23

  Responding to a Story of Rape and Abortion in Mexico (Rewire News)

  "Sixteen-year-old Patricia discovered she was pregnant after a taxi driver in her city of Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico, raped her." This article is responding to an article from Rewire News on a story of rape and abortion in Mexico, and was written by a senior journalism student following a beat developed and thought about in terms of the "local" in a journalism course at Pratt Institute that was upended by the pandemic.
• 
  2020-05-24

  Death, Politics and the Nursing Homes

  This article is very important to the research on COVID 19 because it details that people in nursing homes are forced to surround themselves with infected people.
• 
  05/07/2020

  Sparacity

  A blog
• 2020-05-10

  I secretly love Covid-19

  Top 20 Good Things about Covid-19: 1. Peace and quiet 2. Much less traffic 3. Pollution is way down 4. Gas companies are upset 5. Spoiled children are depressed 6. Republican suicide-by-liberation is a thing 7. The vast majority of jobs are inessential 8. No professional sports, AKA stupid distractions 9. Familial bond forging 10. My alcoholic neighbors don't warm up their two cars - a giant, rumbling Ford F150 and a two door Mini Cooper with a modified (AKA much louder) muffler - right outside my bedroom window for 20 minutes at 6:30AM every weekday morning 11. Mother Nature won't go down without a fight 12. Rich people forced to pay poor people 13. The airline industry, a wasteful and destructive industry that pollutes like crazy, is suffering 14. Cruise ships, modern monstrosities of disgusting opulence that helped the virus spread, are also hurting 15. Real leaders have distinguished themselves 16. The quality of art is directly proportional to the suffering of the artist 17. No mass shootings 18. Sales of bidets way up 19. "light and heat" might kill the virus. Or maybe injections of bleach? Trump wants to look into those ideas, as they come from a mind whose uncle taught at MIT. So, y'know, he just innately understands complex doctor knowledge. Comforting! 20. No need to make up excuses for not visiting grandparents
• 
  2020-05-06

  What the owners of NoDa theatre think of covid-19

  This image tells us what the owners of NoDa theatre think of covid-19
• 
  2020-05-06

  Coronavirus: When Should Freedom Stay Home?

  A detailed account of the history of the pandemic.
• 
  03/15/2020

  Reflections on the "Boomer Remover"

  Brian Gratton, a retired professor, reflects on the term "boomer remover," as Co-Vid19 has been termed. He raises questions about the odd demographic impact of the virus, having a more profound impact on older people, rather than the young, as is the case with most viruses.